Mine-car-door lock.



J. A. RIVERS. MINE UAR DOOR LOOK. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1, 1911 1,026,964. Patel lted May 21, 1912.

JOHN ANOS RIVERS, OF MONONGAH, WEST VIRGINIA.

MINE-CAR-DOOR LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 1, 1911.

Patented May 21, 1912.

Serial No. 641,877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. RIvnRs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Monongah, in the county of Marion and State of West Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mine-Car-Door Locks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mine car look, and the object of the invention is to provide suitable locking means for an outwardly and upwardly swinging end door, said locking means being so constructed and arranged that they can be released from one side of the car either by an attendant or automaticall It will be understood that loaded ore and coal cars are generally run to a suitable dump, and are then dumped by opening the front end of the car, the car traveling upon a suitable trestle or tipple. It is of course dangerous to provide any locking means which requires a man to step in advance of the car in order to release the door and permit the same to swing open. This also is dangerous in the form of a lock which does not hold the door tightly closed until the proper place for dumping the car has been reached. I have therefore endeavored to provide a lock which will positively hold the door closed while being run to the dump, and which can be easily operated from the side when it is desired to discharge the contents of the car.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the front end portion of the body of a mine car provided with my locking device. Fig. 2 is a front elevation. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view showing the side of the car opposite to that shown in Fig. 1.

In these drawings, 1 represents the car, which is provided at its front end with a door 2, hinged at the top as shown at 3, and therefore adapted to swing outwardly and upwardly. The door is provided with two vertically arranged brace bars 4, which bars are bent adjacent their lower ends for the purpose of forming an off-set 5, and through the off-set portions of the bars is run a crossbar 6, firmly secured in place to the bars 4, and projecting at each end beyond the car sides. As shown these cars have outwardly sloping sides in their upper portions and vertical sides adjacent the car bottom. Secured upon one side of the car and to the outwardly inclined portion is a depending bracket 7. The lower end portion of this bracket is spaced about threeinches from the side of the car and forms a support and also a bearing for a pivoted lever 8, the forward free end of which is formed into a hook 9, which engages a projecting end portion of the bar 6, and prevents any outward swinging movement of the door 2. A suitable block 10 is secured upon the lower portion of the car and a rod 11 is held vertically in said block, being locked against any vertical movement by suitable nuts placed respectively above and below the block 10. This rod passes loosely through a suitable lug 12, carried by the lever 8 and an adjustable nut 13 carried by the upper portion of the rod 11 serves as a stop to limit upward movement of the lever 8. It is of course understood that the opening of the lug 12 is large enough to permit free movement of the lever on the rod 11 through the limited distance that such movement is desired. A suitable lock for the lever 8, is formed by a pivoted bar 14,.pivotally carried by the car, and said bar is bent outwardly and then back again upon itself as shown at 15, thereby forming a foot or shoe which bears upon the top of the lever 8 when the locking bar is arranged in perpendicular position. The end portion 16 of the locking bar extends downwardly between the lever 8 and the car as shown in Fig. 1. Upon the other side of the car and at the front is secured a bracket 17, to which is pivotally connected an angled hook member 18, which fits over the opposite end portion of the bar 6, and serves as a catch upon that side when the lever 8 is locked in engagement with the bar 6, upon the other 51 e.

The bent portion 15 of the locking bar 14 not only serves as a shoe or foot bearing upon the lever 8, and holding the same upon the bar 6 against the tension of a coil spring 19, which encircles the rod 11. and bears upon the block 10 and the lug 12, but it also serves as an outwardly extending arm thereby providing means for throwing the locking bar 14 upwardly and rearwardly in order to permit the spring 19 to lift the lever 8 out of engagement with the bar 6. The bar 145 may be swung rearwardly and upwardly either by an attendant stationed at the dumping place or by coming into contact with any obstruction suitably placed adjacent the track, such as a post.

' the bar 6.

What I claim is: 1. The combination with a mine car having its front end in the form of an up-- wardly and outwardly swinging door, a cross bar carried by said door and projecting beyond the side of the car, a lever mounted pivotally upon one side of the car and adapted to engage the projecting end of the bar, a spring for throwing said lever upwardly out of engagement with the bar and a pivoted locking bar having a bent portion adapted to bear upon the top of the lever and hold the same in engagement with the cross bar. a

2. The combination with a mine car having a door at the front end adapted to swing outwardly and upwardly, a cross bar carried by said door, projecting upon one side a stop carried by the upper end portion of the rod, and a coil spring surrounding said rod and bearing respectively upon the block and the lever.

3. The combination with a mine car having an upwardly and outwardly swinging front door, a transverse bar carried by the door and projecting upon opposite sides of V the car, a pivoted hook carried by the car and engaging said bar upon one side, a depending bracket carried by the opposite side of the car, the lower portion of said bracket being spaced from the car, a lever pivoted in said bracket and having its free end bent to form a hook engaging said bar, a block arranged beneath the lever, a perforated lug carried by the lever in alinement with said block, a vertical rod carried by the block passing loosely through said lug, an adjustable nut upon the upper end portion of the rod forming a stop for the lever, a coil spring encircling the rod and bearing upon the block and lever, and a pivoted locking bar carried by the side of the car and adapted to bear upon the top of the lever, said locking bar comprising an outwardly horizontally extending portion adapted to be struck by an obstruction arranged adjacent the track.

JOHN ANOS RIVERS.

Witnesses:

WM. FINDLEY, J. H. SNIDER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

